Jean-Loup Lepan had a hard fall during Stage 2 of the Rallye du Maroc, resulting in multiple fractures and haemopneumothorax that required intensive care. He was brought home to France on Friday.
Rebellion Spierings, a new partnership between Dakar Team Spierings and Rebellion Racing, will race the Taurus T3 Max in the Challenger class at Dakar 2025 with team owners Alexandre Pesci and Paul Spierings.
Good friends Ottavio Missoni and Cesare Zacchetti will join forces again at the 2025 Dakar Rally, racing Kove 450 Rally EX bikes in the Original by Motul class.
Like many of his classmates, Juraj Varga has made the switch from Quads to SSVs after their category’s Dakar Rally demise. Varga hopes to be the first Slovak to race the Dakar in two different classes, but to get there, his focus first will be on European rallies.
For the second year in a row, the FIA has punished EnergyLandia Taurus Factory Team for an environmental infraction. In this case, two team members were spotted dumping waste water into the desert, netting the team a €15,000 fine.
As Dakar Rally winners Harith Noah and Tobias Ebster led the way on Thursday, Romain Dumontier’s hopes of back-to-back World Raid-Raid Championships in Rally2 grow slimmer.
With Nicolás Cavigliasso missing out on stage points in a crucial Stage 3, Rokas Baciuška has secured the World Rally-Raid Championship in the Challenger category. He is the first person to win a W2RC title in two different classes.
The Race of Champions will return to a stadium format in 2025, competing at Sydney’s former Olympic host venue and current rugby and football ground Accor Stadium.
Manuel Andújar was the first car on the scene to attend to Frédéric Baudry after his ultimately fatal accident in Stage #1. On Tuesday, the FIA confirmed the W2RC Quad champion would get 20:09 removed from his time for coming to his aid.
João Ferreira’s SS1 time has been reduced from 3:27:16 to 2:19:52 after a hearing with FIA stewards confirmed he was the victim of two major navigation device malfunctions that dropped him to 33rd in Ultimate.
After briefly leading Stage #2, Mathieu Serradori returned to find he has been disqualified by the FIA for underweight wheel rims and using beadlocks on them.
Taurus T3 Max cars finished 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8 in Challenger during Tuesday’s stage in Morocco, including a podium sweep by the EnergyLandia Taurus Factory Team courtesy of Michał Goczał, his nephew Eryk, and brother Marek.
Tragedy befell the World Rally-Raid Championship for the second time in 2024 when Rally2 rider Frédéric Baudry died from injuries sustained in a fall on Monday. He was 46.
Ricky Brabec’s crash in Stage #1 has effectively clinched Ross Branch his maiden World Rally-Raid Championship in the RallyGP category (barring Branch doesn’t retire as well).
Due to severe flooding that bogged down Rallye du Maroc competitors heading to the next bivouac in Zagora, race officials have opted to swap the courses for Stages #1 and #2. The “new” Stage #1 will also be reduced from 317 kilometres to 180 km.
Sébastien Loeb’s début stage with Dacia was overshadowed by a broken right suspension arm and his Sandrider in a ditch. At least the Prologue doesn’t count towards the overall.
Paul Spierings’ Dakar Team Spierings has fomed a partnership with Rebellion Racing for the 2025 Dakar Rally. Rebellion brings their Toyota Hilux into the fold while Spierings will have his two Challenger cars.
